Igor Nikolaevich Polianski (russian: Игорь Николаевич Полянский) (born 20 March 1967 in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

) is a former

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. He is married and has a son and a daughter living in New Zealand. Polianski trained at

Dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

in Novosibirsk. In 1986 he became the

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

. From 1985 to 1990 Polianski was a member of the USSR National Team.Profile in the Olympic Encyclopedia
/ref> He won three medals at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, including the gold in the 200 m backstroke. Polianski won gold medals at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in 100 m backstroke and 200 m backstroke and a bronze medal in 4×100 m medley. On 3 March 1985 in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, Polianski set the new world record in 200 m backstroke at 1:58.14, that stood six years. Three years later he improved world record time in 100 m backstroke three times: first on 15 March and 16 March in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, to 55.17 and 55.16 respectively and then on 16 July in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to 55.00. The latter was beaten by

David Berkoff David Charles "Dave" Berkoff (born November 30, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Berkoff was a backstroke specialist who won a total of four Olympic medals during h ...

a month later. In 1989 Polianski graduated from Omsk State Institute of Physical Culture. He currently resides in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and currently runs a swimming school – Waterlions, in partnership with his wife. He is an active member of the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Swimming Community, coaching from the Epsom Girls Grammar and

Massey High School Massey High School is a co-educational state secondary school in West Auckland, New Zealand established in 1969. The school is located on the western edge of the city, thus obtaining students from both suburban and rural backgrounds. In 2017 it w ...

campuses.

References

databaseOlympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polyansky, Igor 1967 births Living people Russian male swimmers Male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers of the Soviet Union Soviet male swimmers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Dynamo sports society athletes Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Russian expatriates in New Zealand Sportspeople from Novosibirsk Russian swimming coaches World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade

See also

References